Small business puts fine touch on stationery

Sunday

Oct 28, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 28, 2007 at 7:57 PM

FRAMINGHAM - Suzanne Fine takes invitations personally. And professionally. As the founder of Framingham-based Invitations by Suzanne, Fine specializes in creating cards with a personal touch. No Web site for her.

Bob Tremblay/Daily News staff

Suzanne Fine takes invitations personally. And professionally.

As the founder of Framingham-based Invitations by Suzanne, Fine specializes in creating cards with a personal touch. No Web site for her. ``I feel it's impersonal,'' she says. For example, many people like to see in person what they're ordering, she says. ``A lot of them will see something on a Web site but want to see what color it really is,'' she says. ``A lot of times when people actually see the color, they don't like it. ... People say it's so cheap to order off the Web, but you're not getting the quality.''

Customers pick out their invitations in the privacy of Fine's studio following an appointment. A typical appointment lasts two hours. Fine says she wants to make sure customers get invitations that are just right for them. ``People come to me happy and they leave happy,'' she says.

While Fine meets with most of her customers, there are exceptions. ``One woman was getting married and needed invitations right away,'' she says. ``I know a company that does 24-hour service and he happens to be on the Web. So I had her go to his site, she picked out her invitation, I wrote up the order, she sent me the check, I sent her the order and she got exactly what she wanted.''

Also, some business customers who order birthday cards for their clients either repeat their orders or have Fine pick out a card. ``It's a card that I think is appropriate for what they like and over the years, I seem to know what they like,'' she says.
Experience has its benefits.

Since she started the company in 1980, Fine has accumulated more than 100 books of invitations, stationery and gifts with each book containing more than 100 different designs. Her studio is decorated by wall-to-wall books. Most of the invitations are for weddings, parties and bar/bat mitzvahs.

Over the years, Fine has worked with 50 printing companies and currently serves as a consultant for three national printing firms. She has five calligraphers and two artists who provide addressing and artwork, respectively, as outside contractors.

In addition to invitations, the company sells stationery, notepads, holiday greeting cards, business cards, letterheads, envelopes, birth announcements, napkins, placards and such gift items as handpainted piggy banks in various sizes, Whiting and Davis evening bags, candy and favors for parties and hotel guest bags. It also sells yarmulkes, sign-in boards and theme party favors for bar/bat mitzvahs. On top of that, the company plans parties and coordinates weddings.

``I can deal with any customer,'' says Fine, who has sold napkins for a bar mitzvah in Mexico, coconut-filled gift bags for a wedding in India and invitations for a twin bar mitzvah in Israel. She has also had customers for as long as she's been in business.

``Every year one lady orders very unique holiday cards. She's known for them,'' says Fine. ``Her friends expect better and greater cards than last year, and in 27 years I've been able to make her happy.''

Customers appreciate Fine's creative input ``because they know what they want, but they just can't seem to put their hand on it,'' she says.

After working with a client to choose an invitation design, Fine works with the companies to create the product. ``I don't physically create the invitations,'' she says. ``I can't paint, but I can tell the artist what to paint.''

These companies receive a percentage of sales.

The price for 100 invitations ranges from $35 to $900, according to Fine. The quality of the paper and envelopes and the labor involved in producing the final product increases the price.

A typical order costs $500 - this includes the invitations, return address, the liner, reply card and thank-you note.

``I try to work within the budget of the customer,'' says Fine. ``That's why I have so many books. If customers have a certain budget, a certain scheme, theme or color, I can either show it to them or I have enough creativity to make it happen. ... No matters what the client spends, they get the same service.''

Company sales have been robust. ``In the last quarter, I did one-fifth of the business I did all last year,'' says Fine. ``I attribute that to more referrals and returning customers. The business is growing. People like the service, the privacy and the choice.''

Before launching Invitations by Suzanne, Fine sold gifts door-to-door. ``Then the gas crunch came,'' she says. Prior to gifts, she worked for a business forms designer. Through the gifts job, she had a base of customers and also learned how to market products. Through the business forms job, she gained a background in printing. For her new company, she decided to merge her prior job experiences. She could also work out of her home where she could spend more time with her family.

After selling stationery to clients, Fine decided to focus on invitations. ``I liked the creative opportunity of invitations,'' she says in explaining her choice. ``You can create a mood and a theme.''

The customer base came in handy at the start. ``I was lucky,'' says Fine. ``Operating out of your house, people don't know who you are. This way, I had all these people telling other people about me.''

Referrals and existing customers account for 75 percent of the company's business. Ads generate the remaining 25 percent. Fifty percent of orders are picked up by clients. The other 50 percent are shipped direct.

Invitations by Suzanne has prospered over the years because it keeps up with the trends, according to Fine. ``My books are always the latest,'' she says. ``I always say the latest and greatest from the stationery show. I spend three days at the show looking for the new stuff.''

The aforementioned personal touch is another factor. When one customer found out that the paper she ordered was discontinued, she put in a new order but it cost $80 more. She couldn't afford the extra cost, so Fine and the printing company split the $80.

``If customers need a break, I'll give them a break,'' she says. ``I have enough personal relationships with owners of companies or their marketing people so if I need favor, I can get a favor. If I need something tomorrow, I can get it tomorrow.''

Fine keeps a card file on all her customers, listing their orders so she knows what they like and to refresh customers' memories of past orders. ``This is the type of personal service you wouldn't get at a store,'' she says.

Fine will also count every piece in every order. ``I don't want a bride calling me at 11 p.m., saying, `I'm sending out my invitations and I'm short five envelopes.' I tell customers when they pick up their order exactly what they got and I make sure it's correct before they get it. I don't call the customer until the order is perfect, until every piece is in the order,'' she says.

``If there's a shortage, I'll call the company and tell them. They've done business with me. They know that if I say that, it's true. They'll back me. Companies will go the extra mile for me because of the relationships we've established over the years.''

Fine's troubleshooting duties include correcting mistakes. ``This new company didn't know a bat mitzvah from a bar mitzvah so we have a girl's name with a bar mitzvah on the thank-you note,'' she says. The error was fixed.

This attention to detail has helped Fine build a loyal customer base as she has provide invitations for two generations of customers. ``For one customer, I did her wedding, her child's birth announcement and her child's bar mitzvah,'' says Fine. ``She sent me five customers because she was so happy with my work.''

Another grateful customer sent her two plane tickets for a trip to Washington, D.C. A bartender customer sent her a bottle of champagne.

Printing companies have expressed their pleasure as well. ``You are that rare customer who understands both sides of a business relationship,'' writes Richard Evans, president of Rockland-based Birchcraft Studios, in a letter to Fine. ``We, of course, value your business but even more importantly we value your input.''

Evans praises Fine for offering the company helpful advice on improving and developing their invitations. ``You're not afraid to tell us exactly how you feel with no sugarcoating,'' he continues. ``Your reputation within this industry is well-documented. You have the respect of all our suppliers.''

For a bar mitzvah with a car theme, Fine set up a large photograph of the customer's son in a red Corvette covered with place cards. After each place card was removed, the photograph was revealed. On the place-card table, she placed chocolate-covered cars on Hot Wheel tracks. She then placed on each table a steering wheel decorated with balloons and ribbons. She found the steering wheels at a junk yard and cleaned them up. ``The guests liked them so much they took them home and hung them up on their den walls,'' she says. ``I want to do a good job. If I do, the customer send me another customer.''

What keeps Fine going she says is the people. ``They've been wonderful and I have fun with this,'' she says. The company's longtime logo of a quill in an ink well has become a distinctive trademark. ``Even before customers see my name, when they see that, they know it's me,'' she says.

While other companies sell invitations, ``it's the creativity sets me apart from the others,'' says Fine.

Lining the walls of the stairway leading to the company's studio are pictures of Fine with such famous people as Frankie Avalon, Donald Trump and Paul Anka. In the invitations business, she may have to make room for herself.

(Bob Tremblay can be reached at btremblay@cnc.com or 508-626-4409.)
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INVITATIONS BY SUZANNE
Founder and owner: Suzanne Fine
Employees: One
Industry: Invitations
Company background: Based in Framingham, Invitations by Suzanne specializes in selling invitations. The company also sells stationery, notepads, holiday greeting cards, birth announcements, napkins, placards and gift items. Its phone number is 508-877-9147. The fax number is 508-877-0661.

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